Paradoxically, since the ouster of the Spanish colonial regime, Philippine democracy has been merely a legitimizing mechanism for oligarchic rule.

For purposes of analytic clarity, democracy literally means “rule by the people”, or rule with the consent of the governed. Oligarchy literally means “rule by the few”. Oligarchy can be in the form of aristocracy, which is “rule of the best and the brightest”, or plutocracy, which is “rule by the rich”.

In Philippine context, consent through elections means that a consensus has been reached as regards which among competing elites shall be conferred the legitimate power to plunder the nation within a limited number of years.

This conundrum can be traced back to the Spanish colonial regime where the purpose of governance was clearly to systematically plunder the Philippine colony in order to secure economic development for the Crown. Spanish mercantilism was designed to maximize the Crown’s extraction from its colonies at considerable cost to economic development of the empire.

Independence did not free the Philippines from the colonial culture of plunder in governance. It only spurred the competition among elites for power vacated by the Spanish colonial regime. Perhaps this was the rationale why Jose Rizal did not advocate for independence. Instead, consistent with the liberal ideals, he fought for human rights through democratic reforms by demanding representation and accountability.

Our democracy is an elected oligarchy. Our formal democratic institutions do not guarantee democracy. Our congresses have been perpetual repetitions of the tragedy of Tejeros convention of 1897 where elites maneuver each other out of power, which cost the lives of Andres Bonifacio, Antonio Luna and the noble ends of the Katipunan. Even our “people power”, as a mechanism of accountability, is now suspect. After it has not delivered on its promises, it is reduced into an apparatus of disgruntled elites to claim lost power.

In the wake of the scandals that haunt the Arroyo administration, as a people, we are forced to reexamine our beliefs regarding the legitimate ends of democratic governance.

Democracy is essentially an affirmation of the sovereignty of the people as a collective of dignified human beings with rights. That is, the people are not things or mere means to an end. Ideally, a democratic government is an agency established to guarantee that the people have all the freedoms possible and the capacities to live the life that they have reasons to value. By representation, democracy demands that the people have the power to decide which among competing policies best serve their interests and to hold accountable those who misrepresent them.

Until this colonial culture of plunder in governance is effectively dismantled, willful corruption through our democratic decision-making procedures cannot be averted. Elites will continue to violate human rights by creating opportunities to convert public goods into private gain.

Unless we reorient our culture of governance by grounding it on the democratic imperative to respect, protect and provide for human rights, we shamefully dignify the doubts that bothered Jose Rizal more than a century ago.

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What would Rizal think about the nature of our country’s way of democracy? A simple but a mind blowing question. “The Philippine Government is on it’s way into becoming one of the most elite regime ever to rule a country.” Yeah right!? I saw that on a front page of a newspaper being read by a man while I was waiting for my friend. What a way to cover-up all the flunks and misfits our government has done. If King Jose is still breathing, im pretty sure that he’ll write another nasty novel or poem to harshly criticize our very own filipino government. Come to think of it, there’s basically no difference on how the country has been governed by it’s officials for the past 15 decades. What makes things worse is that this time, we’re being abused by our own race. A true-bLue FILIPINO. Not Spanish, not Japanese, not American, but pure blooded Filipinos. Can you believe it? These darn and witty officials are taking advantage of their positions so they can sneak public goods into private gain. Tsk Tsk.

The Great Jose Rizal would have thought of the same as mine. Maybe he’ll be more disappointed because of the fact that he sacrificed his own life to change the fate of our country against these greedy dimwits whose extreme desire for power leaves them with no difference from the previous foreign counquerors of our land.

Who would have ever thought that this simple “proM D-ng inTsik” will make a big difference for our country? Yet, our nature of democracy, ruled by our own race, have disappointed our ancestors who fought for freedom, specially doctor J to the R. haha.

Maybe, just maybe, if Jose Rizal was still alive, he would again be the spark that might start and light the fire into the hearts of each and everyone to continue and hope for a change. To dream of a country that is full of trust and honesty. Aww.

Democracy is not related with development
It does not assure social welfare’s improvement
It is an instrument that ensures competition
Competition among country’s leadership

It is not driven by performance
It is driven by patronage and loyalty
Leaders rule by the virtue of their personal appeal
They rule by authority

They remain in office by buying loyalty
They create failed policies that open chance to collect bribes
A source of corruption in governance
An incentive to govern for plunder

What can we do to fix this corrupt culture?
We must discover the legitimate rule of the state
We must realize that leaders are not patrons
We must understand that they are civil servants
And that they are responsible to the welfare of the society

Oligarchy is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society whether distinguished by wealth, family or military powers.

Basically it is in Filipino nature to be an epitomy of such.
I read a forum which openedly talked about oligarchy in our country. The Philiipine oligarchy was dismantalled by Marcos but he replaced it with his own cronies (Big Boss Danding, Jose DeVenecia). After the Marcos era, there came Aquino with her own crony Kamag-Anak Inc., then Ramos’military clique, Erap’s Midnight Cabinet (mafia gang) including jueteng grandlord Chavit Singson and under the Arroyo administration, the Jose Pidal and company. This is indeed a dismaying fact revealed to Filipinoes.

I firmly believe that the problem arising in our country is simply not about who seats in the position but the Filipino’s irresistible greed for power and wealth. It is already in our system to be corrupted. Changing the administration doesn’t change our roots, but changing the root itself is a totally different story.

If Jose Rizal was still alive, he might have been an ordinary Filipino whom we seen everynow and then shouting for government changes at EDSA. If he was still alive, would he be any different amongst us Filipinoes? The story is not about a non-existent hero anymore who lives in book pages. It’s already about us ordinary citizens who could do something in the present to make an extraordinary leap forward about this changes we want to happen. The answer lies within us. And about Rizal? Following what he’ve already started is the best basis.

The Spanish colonial regime might have influenced our government and our ways but we are responsible for what it has always been.

Oligarchy is ruled by the few on the other hand democracy is ruled by the people. In my opinion oligarchy is better than democracy because it prevents leaders from manipulating the nth result of who would be the future leaders. Further more it would lessen the chances of ousting leaders that is happening in our country today. Also, Oligarchy is more organized because the person who would have the power will be responsible enough due to the people surrounding him. These people who are influencing the leader’s mind are familiar with the situation of our country. Lastly, the country would be more peaceful because the positions are not open to the public. It is only available to those who are already in power.

If I were Dr. Jose Rizal in his time, I would choose democracy because with oligarchy, our country would be ruled by “prayles”, “encomenderos”, “encomenderas” “hacienderos” “hacienderas”, and the likes. They abuse their powers that are given to them and they abuse the women and children themselves. They even tormented everyone’s belief in the Catholic faith. They allowed Catholicism to enter their culture but these highly positioned people used the religion to manipulate the minds of the mass. Due to these circumstances, I would not want my fellow country men to experience what I have experienced with these people. For the people today, I would not want them to experience the same treatment that I had from these leaders. I also would not want the youth of today to inherit the attitude of the people in my time because they changed the perspective on how they would live their lives today.

For me, I think that “Democracy” in the Philippines is just an excuse used by the elites, government officials, not to mention the greedy who continue to plunder and corrupt our country. I won’t be a hypocrite and I could say that our country, more likely than not, falls in the oligarchic type of government. and why not? after all the rights and freedoms given to all Filipinos ( which is the idea of democracy ), it seems that the ruling power of the elites still dominate the society. this is ironic because democracy literally means “rule by the people” and basically, what’s happening in our country right now is ruled by the rich and influential people. Despite the fact that we are a democratic country, elites still continue to violate human rights for their personal purposes ( priorly, to convert public goods into private gains ).

On the other hand, I strongly believe that Rizal would also think the same. because he believed that democracy did not completely eliminate corruption in the governance of our country, He did not advocate for our country’s freedom but rather, for the accountability and the rights of the Filipino people. Perhaps, he would still have wanted the Filipinos to open up their minds about what’s going on beyond our democratic country.

Instead of being indepedent from the Spaniards. Japanese, Americans who once took over our country in history. Why do we feel trapped and betrayed by our own kind? Why does it seem that human has no rights or more like us citizens have no rights in their own country. With so much controversial in our politics we all fell trapped. And instead of the gov’t worrying about their people they are too selfish to take notice on what is going on in our country. And to think they should be the ones serving us. Not us serving them. If you look closer to our country we can and may become new if our gov’t uses our money to good use. Our gov’t should appriciate their people that they serve because without us they wouldn’t be as new as they are.

If Jose Rizal was still alive he would have done something for a change in our gov’t. He did it for our independence. Why not for our gov’t right? He didn’t sacrifice his life for no reason. Rizal could have sacrificed his life for the gov’t but it would be no use if the gov’t is still the same. If Rizal was still alive he wouldn’t let his people suffer like this. He is a real hero because eventhough he is a tsinoy he has a heart of a Filipino. Unlike the gov’t their own people they don’t even care about. Its a pity for us to suffer with this controversy. Rizal woul have made a difference.

Years may have passed, many lives were destroyed and a insatiable hunger for foreign dominance. I know, that though we might not admit it, we are like a babies left alone by his/her mother when our foreign invaders left. Even that we are free and having our own freewill. We cannot deny that we are still in a invisible prison that our own countrymen made. Though we may call our government a free willed one, we are still in close ties with the United States government, just like dogs to its master.

Democracy is the type of government we are in. We have the right to elect the candidates who will run our government. Our people are allowed to do almost everything. But, why do you think, the people who choose our leaders are the most likely to reject them in the end. Is it because the government is corrupt? Is it because we were cheated? Or is it just because we only voted our leaders for the reason that they satisfy your needs?

For a long time we have been prisoners of different rulers. We have been forced to turn away from our beliefs and accept the abuse they inflict upon us. But somehow we managed to break free of the chains that enslaved us and became a free country! But is this really freedom? Are we really free of the abuse and injustices? I do not think so! We are still under a corrupt government that couldn’t care less about the people. Many of us are trapped in poverty! We couldn’t even choose our own officials because they cheat to win their candidacy. We may think we are, but truly we are not free people! If Rizal were alive today, i believe that he would do everything in his power to make a change, but i think that it would not have any effect, because people today are more stubborn and thick faced and will not easily be removed out of the power they have. If it does succeed, however, there wouldn’t be much of a change because as long as the people are dishonest, no matter who we choose as a leader, the results will be the same. People should change……